Press Release – Massey University
Massey University has leapt up the global university rankings for design. The global design award agency Red Dot now rates Massey fourth in Asia Pacific, up from 11th two years ago.

Massey has consistently been the only university in New Zealand and Australia to be ranked within the top 15. Red Dot rankings are based on student success in design concept awards over five years (2010-14).

Red Dot President Ken Koo, who is based in Singapore, describes Massey as “one of the top universities in Asia Pacific for continuously and progressively producing cutting edge and forward thinking product concepts.”

In the latest rankings, Massey’s Wellington School of Design beat strong competition from leading universities in Taiwan, South Korea and China to get fourth. First, second and third went to Zhejiang University (China), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan) and Shih Chien University (Taiwan) respectively.

In the Americas and Europe region, the Academy of Art University, San Francisco USA, came fourth. First, second and third went to Umeå Institute of Design at Umeå University (Sweden), Art Center College of Design (USA) and ENSCI – Les Ateliers (France) respectively.

Massey is also the only university in the region to have been awarded ‘substantial equivalency’ from the US National Association of Schools of Art and Design. This means Massey art and design degrees are certified as substantially equivalent to degrees from prestigious US schools like Rhode Island School of Design and CalArts.

University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey says the new Red Dot ranking is “a huge achievement. The ranking is more independent evidence that Massey University has the best design school in New Zealand.”

Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Creative Arts, Professor Claire Robinson, says Red Dots are among the most prestigious design awards in the world. “It really is a delight to see our students flourishing on the international stage.”

In the past five years, Massey design students have won dozens of Red Dots, for designs ranging from a digitally fabricated chair and an electronic sheep drenching unit to typographic work for adult literacy learners, a poster campaign about autism and a comic about the tormented life of scientist Nikola Tesla. In 2013, industrial design graduate Stacey Kenny won Red Dot’s top prize, the Luminary Award, for a system to re-home spent battery hens.

Globally, more than 10,000 student projects are entered in Red Dot competitions each year.